If you’ve been following the tour, you will know that the first ten bloggers are each hosting a part of an exclusive short story written by the author in conjunction with The Teacher. If you’ve missed the first three days, you can catch up by clicking the relevant links below:

The lights in the hall had stopped working, the corridor was washed out and depressing which made the whole encounter feel a little creepy. But not as creepy as this woman made Imogen feel. In her brief time working with Adrian Miles, Imogen had learned two main things about him. The first was that he drove like an octogenarian and the second was that he had absolutely no instincts when it came to women.

Lucy pushed on the door and they all went inside. She pulled out her phone and pulled up a photo of the room they were standing in, the lounge. It was the same. Lucy took a deep breath and sighed, Miles put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly and she turned and smiled. Imogen watched as Lucy kept checking where Miles was in proximity to her, she definitely seemed agitated. They walked into the kitchen.

“Did you leave your mug in the sink this morning?” Adrian asked as they all walked slowly towards the sink.

“Yes. Look.” She showed them a photo of her sink, the mug was there.

When they arrived at the sink it was empty, Lucy’s hand went up to her mouth and her eyes began to water. Miles rubbed her shoulder. Imogen shook her head.

“Who is doing this?” Lucy sobbed.

Imogen saw Miles move in towards Lucy and so quickly put her arm around her, before Adrian had a chance to. Lucy turned to Imogen with her face crinkled in confusion, as if she had completely forgotten Grey was there.

“We’ll get someone to come and take a statement from you in the morning, OK?”

Imogen waited to get Miles’s attention then signalled to the front door with her eyes. He looked puzzled but that was not unusual. They hadn’t quite had time to fine tune to each-other’s facial expressions just yet, so she would have to settle for crude eye signals until they did. Imogen steered them all toward the door and looked at the handle until Miles got the hint and opened it.

Imogen waited until Miles was out before letting go of Lucy then following him, deliberately standing in the way.

“Someone will be in touch.” She smiled and pulled the door closed before looking at Miles.

“What the hell was that?” he asked.

“You need to step off. Get someone else on this. She’s all over you.”

“What are you talking about? She’s upset because some creep has been in her house! Nothing’s going on!”

It’s true that wherever they went the women went a little weird around Miles, to the point where he didn’t even really notice it. But if there was one thing Imogen had the drop on, it was mentally unstable women. Some people had Gaydar – Imogen had this; this wasn’t the last they would hear from Lucy.

So, there you have it! Make sure to follow the tour to read more from Stalkers by Katerina Diamond!

Today it’s my stop on the #Jihadi Blog Tour! Huge thanks to Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books and to Yusuf Toropov for allowing me to hop on the tour! You can see the full schedule below!

About the book (via Goodreads):

A former intelligence agent stands accused of terrorism, held without charge in a secret overseas prison. His memoir is in the hands of a psychologist with her own agenda, and her annotations paint a much darker picture.

As the story unravels, we are forced to assess the truth for ourselves, and decide not only what really happened, but who is the real terrorist.

Peopled by a diverse and unforgettable cast of characters, whose reliability as narrators is always questioned, and with a multi-layered plot heaving with unexpected and often shocking developments, Jihadi: A Love Story is an intelligent thriller that asks big questions.

My thoughts:

I have no idea where to start with my review for Jihadi. Not necessarily a bad thing, just a lot to digest.

I’m not going to lie, it took me a few days to really get into the book. As it’s not my usual genre, I read a little at a time and then I did something I never do. I took notes. Yes you read that right. Never in my life have I taken notes on a book, possibly in school but that’s a good 15 years ago now!

Jihadi is the kind of book that you need to read slowly. You need to soak in every word, every new character, every harrowing scene. Whether you realise it or not, while you are reading, it seeps into the deep recesses of your mind, and takes hold of your emotions.

I tend to shy away from books that have war, terrorism and religious themes running through them. However, Jihadi has been a thoroughly breathtaking introduction to subjects that cause so much trouble in the world we live in.

Towards the end of the book, I found myself becoming emotionally invested in the fates of the characters. All of them. Toropov has created a wonderfully diverse set of characters and they all have their own quirks and agendas.

While I was on the fence to begin with, by the end of Jihadi I was definitely certain of one thing. It’s most definitely a piece of modern literature unlike anything I’ve read before and in the best possible way.

The prose is wonderfully written and beautifully observed. I found myself having to stop reading on more than one occasion, such was the vividness of the picture painted with the authors words.

I’m so thankful to Karen and Yusuf for my copy of Jihadi: A Love Story. You can pick up a copy HERE.

Today is my stop on the Kill Me Again blog tour! For any of you who don’t know, Rachel Abbott is the UK’s most successful self-published authors and Kill Me Again was released on the 17th of February.

I’m delighted to be able to share with you Rachel’s Top Five Thrilling Reads, so without further ado, have a read! 😉

TOP FIVE THRILLERS

I have loved thrillers for as long as I can remember, and I’ve read so many brilliant ones it’s really hard to remember them all. I’ve chosen a few here, but I could have come up with a much longer list.

My favourite types of thrillers are those in which the investigation team are on the periphery. They may well have strong personalities of their own and play a vital role in the story, but essentially the story is about the victims and the perpetrators, so we see majority of the action from their perspective. There are a couple of exceptions in this list below, but they are all good reads – so much so that most have been made into films.

Misery – Stephen King –

Every writer’s nightmare in the terrifying flesh, being kidnapped by a super fan who has mental health issues and a burning desire to keep you in one place by any means necessary. I have fresh respect for the plight of Paul Sheldon being forced to write a book to please the unhinged, violent Annie Wilkes every time I walk past a sledgehammer. This is a true thriller.

Silence of the Lambs – Thomas Harris –

High-functioning psychopath and incarcerated cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter is approached by his darling Clarice Starling for help with another serial killer. Buffalo Bill skins his female victim’s corpses. There are a hundred reasons to love this book but I’m afraid I love it most for a gruesome one-liner involving a vest!

Before I go to Sleep – SJ Watson –

The idea behind this book is brilliant. It’s the kind of idea that I’m sure most writers wish they had thought of first. The main character, Christine Lucas, has lost her life because she has lost her memory. Every night when she goes to sleep, her memory is wiped and so she records her daily existence to figure out who she really is. Gradually she discovers, through reading the diaries, that something isn’t quite right. But who should she trust?

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson –

I confess that it took me a while to get into this book. The early part of the story didn’t grab me, but I am so glad that I persevered. The story has so many twists and turns and sub-plots that it is quite a mental work out. Larsson has several strands all leading to a story of rape, sexual assault and murder, and I loved the way the tiniest nuggets of information became so hugely important. And I don’t think I guessed who the killer was until the very end – always the sign of a good book.

The Body Farm – Patricia Cornwell –

Any book that involves the death of children recalls Brady and Hindley for me, especially as I used to live in Saddleworth – the area in which this couple buried some of the bodies of their victims. In The Body Farm, Kay Scarpetta investigates the brutal murder of an 11-year-old girl and it looks like the handiwork of a serial killer who has dodged the FBI for years. Unlike the others, this is more focused on the investigation – but as with most books by this author, that doesn’t mean that the main characters are safe from harm. Far from it. I particularl love the fact that an actual research facility for the study of human decomposition was the inspiration for the title and the plot.

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Ive read three out of the five books listed, and have the other two on my TBR so I must root them out and read them! 😉

***There’s also a giveaway running here and on Twitter for a paperback book and T-shirt saying ‘careful, or you’ll end up in my next novel’! All you have to do, is comment below or on Twitter with your favourite crime book OF ALL TIME. It’s that simple! A winner will be chosen at random, and their prize sent out!***

My thanks to Hayley at Harper Collins for my copy of The Invisible Guardian to read and review.

I’m honoured to be the last stop on the blog tour for this book, the first in the Baztán trilogy.

About the book:

The naked body of a teenage girl is found on the banks of the River Baztán. Less than 24 hours after this discovery, a link is made to the murder of another girl the month before. Is this the work of a ritualistic killer or of the Invisible Guardian, the Basajaun, a creature of Basque mythology?
30-year-old Inspector Amaia Salazar heads an investigation which will take her back to Elizondo, the village in the heart of Basque country where she was born, and to which she had hoped never to return. A place of mists, rain and forests. A place of unresolved conflicts, of a dark secret that scarred her childhood and which will come back to torment her.

Torn between the rational, procedural part of her job and local myths and superstitions, Amaia Salazar has to fight off the demons of her past in order to confront the reality of a
serial killer at loose in a region steeped in the history of the Spanish Inquisition.

My thoughts:

I had seen The Invisible Guardian pop up on social media a couple of times, so when I was contacted by Hayley to see if I was interested, naturally it was a yes. I was intrigued to read this Spanish bestseller to see what it was like!

Initially, I found it hard to get into. It took a while for the story to progress and there were many asides to do with Spanish mythology and with character backgrounds. However, these descriptions all (whether I realised it or not) had some impact on the developing story and it was all explained much later on.

I liked Inspector Salazar as a character. Well written and quite a strong woman, she didn’t take any prisoners (pardon the pun) and did her job well. Salazar, like many main characters, has her own hidden weaknesses and some of these threaten to undo her during the course of the book.

The murder investigation takes many different twists and turns, and I honestly couldn’t see where it was going for quite some time! Every time I thought I had the perpetrator, the author cleverly pointed the finger in another direction. I quite like that in books, as it makes you think back over what made you choose one person over another and what changed for the characters.

Redondo has skilfully written in Basque heritage and mythology into her novel. The pictures painted are wonderfully vivid, misty mornings that roll on, dense forestry and a flowing river all add to the darkness of the ritualistic subject matter in The Invisible Guardian.

I really enjoyed this book, and I would happily read the following two books in the Baztán trilogy.

Jónasson is easily one of my favourite authors of 2015, and I am beyond thrilled to be on the blog tour for one of my top series of 2015!

I waited patiently (ahem 😂) for Nightblind and was lucky enough to get a review copy early, as well as a signed first edition (which I am quoted it!) for Christmas. So without further ado, here’s my review for Nightblind…

About the book: (via Goodreads)

Siglufjörður: an idyllically quiet fishing village on the northernmost tip of Iceland, accessible only via a small mountain tunnel. Ari Thór Arason: a local policeman, whose tumultuous past and uneasy relationships with the villagers continue to haunt him.
The peace of this close-knit community is shattered by the murder of a policeman – shot at point-blank range in the dead of night in a deserted house. With a killer on the loose and the dark arctic winter closing in, it falls to Ari Thór to piece together a puzzle that involves tangled local politics, a compromised new mayor, and a psychiatric ward in Reykjavik, where someone is being held against their will.
Then a mysterious young woman moves to the area, on the run from something she dare not reveal, and it becomes all too clear that tragic events from the past are weaving a sinister spell that may threaten them all. Dark, chilling and complex, Nightblind is an extraordinary thriller from an undeniable new talent.My thoughts:

I always wonder when an author you love writes a spectacular book, can they continue to write books that you know you will love even before opening the first page…

In Ragnar Jónasson’s case, ABSOLUTELY!!!
I have been eagerly waiting for Nightblind for weeks, and have not stopped singing its predecessors (Snowblind) praises on Twitter and Facebook for months.
Nightblind begins a few years after Snowblind, with Ari Thór still working as the police in Siglufjörðor, passed over for promotion to Inspector, but back with Kristín and a father to baby Stefnir.

The book opens with the murder of the other policeman, Herjólfur, at a desolate and dilapidated house near the edge of the town.
Ari Thór is tasked with finding out what happened, and he calls in his old work colleague Tomás to help with the investigation.
Small towns and tight communities make for difficult work when it comes to finding out what has happened and sometimes people aren’t always what they seem.
Nightblind is a beautifully written mystery. It echoes days gone by, bringing past and present day secrets together in a quietly chilling way.
The subdued nature of the story is offset by Jónasson’s superb writing style, bringing alive characters who see each suffering in their own way.

Nightblind is also a stunning lesson in Icelandic geography. Jónasson has a wonderful way of painting pictures with words and each sentence adds an extra dimension to scenery.
This book has been worth the wait, without a doubt. The Dark Iceland series are fast earning a place on my favourites of all time list.
The elegant prose, coupled with the chilling, almost sleepy location, make for an utterly enthralling read.
An easy 5 stars for me, all the stars, always. ❤️

Super excited to be the first stop on the blog tour for Michael’s For Reasons Unknown. Blogsquad may or may not have pressured him into it, but only because we loved the book and wanted to share it far and wide! 🙂 Here’s the blog tour schedule!

I’m lucky enough to get to post my review AND give you an excerpt from For Reasons Unknown too.

About the author:

Michael Wood is a freelance journalist and proofreader living in Sheffield. As a journalist he has covered many crime stories throughout Sheffield, gaining first-hand knowledge of police procedure. He also reviews books for CrimeSquad, a website dedicated to crime fiction.

About the book:

Two murders. Twenty years. Now the killer is back for more…
A darkly compelling debut crime novel. The start of a brilliant series, perfect for fans of Stuart MacBride, Val McDermid, and James Oswald.

DCI Matilda Darke has returned to work after a nine month absence. A shadow of her former self, she is tasked with re-opening a cold case: the terrifyingly brutal murders of Miranda and Stefan Harkness. The only witness was their eleven-year-old son, Jonathan, who was too deeply traumatized to speak a word.

Then a dead body is discovered, and the investigation leads back to Matilda’s case. Suddenly the past and present converge, and it seems a killer may have come back for more…

My thoughts:

Where to start?!

First off, I loved this book. I read so many crime books that at times they all run into each other but every so often a book comes along with a story that stands out. For Reasons Unknown did just that.

DCI Darke (what a name by the way!) is back to work after some traumatic events in both her personal and professional life. Clearly not 100%, she is tasked with solving a cold case from twenty years ago. The double murder of Miranda and Stefan Harkness, whose murder was witnessed by their eleven year old son and in turn, rendered him mute.
Simultaneously, acting DCI Hales is investigating a murder in the city. Both past and present cases end up related so it becomes a race against time as it appears that the murderer may not be finished. While I saw this coming, I still enjoyed the way it was going.
I really enjoyed the pace of this story, and I found myself reading at every opportunity (including in the car even though it makes me sick!!! I had 6% left to read!! 😄) as I was enjoying it so much. Hence I had it finished fairly quickly!
As I was nearing the end, I think from about 70% on, my brain starting working everything out! Having said that, I think the author has created an intricate web in a larger story which really comes into its own in the last few chapters. That’s where things really get going, in my opinion.
Now that I’m finished, I feel like I have a book hangover. I don’t get that very often! 🙂
I have recommended this book to people already, and I will recommend it again as I genuinely loved it! Usually on Twitter, so I’m sorry Michael for all the @@@!! 🙂 (@Bibliophilebc if you fancy following)
I gave For Reasons Unknown 5 ⭐️ on Goodreads (a rarity but it does happen! 😉).

It could have been any sitting room in any house throughout the country but it wasn’t. It was a room in the middle of South Yorkshire Police HQ, designed to give a relaxed, homely atmosphere. From the outside, it looked friendly and inviting, but if walls could talk they would tell a different story. Here, parentless children were comforted; victims of rape and sexual abuse were given tea and sympathy; and elderly victims of brutal crimes were consoled by fresh-faced WPCs with soothing tones and a never-ending supply of tissues.

Sitting on the floor was a blond, blue-eyed eleven-year-old boy dressed in a grey tracksuit that didn’t belong to him. He was surrounded by blank sheets of paper and an array of wax crayons, coloured pencils, and felt-tip pens. Squatting next to him was a young PC, who, against orders from his superiors, had not changed out of uniform. The door opened and in walked Dr Sally McCartney. Unlike the PC, she had softened her appearance. Gone were the severe ponytail and conservative jacket. She had removed her glasses and suffered the anxiety of touching her eyes to put in contact lenses. She shot the PC a look of indignation. He could have at least taken off his uniform jacket. ‘Hello Jonathan,’ she said. The young boy didn’t look up from his drawings. ‘My name is Sally. I’ve come to have a chat with you if that’s all right?’ He continued to scribble on the paper. Sally McCartney knelt down to his level and looked over his shoulder. He had drawn a house and was colouring in a large tree next to it. ‘Is this your house?’ Jonathan nodded. ‘It’s very nice. That’s a lovely tree too. Do you climb it?’ No reply. ‘Which room is yours?’ He pointed to the top right window with the blue curtains, then went back to colouring in the tree. ‘Is the room next to yours your brother’s?’ He noddedagain.

‘Jonathan, we’ve been looking for your brother but we can’t seem to find him. Do you know where he might be?’ Jonathan stopped drawing and looked up as if in thought. He looked across to Dr McCartney and fixed her with an expressionless stare, then returned his attention back to his drawing. ‘Jonathan, we need to find your brother. It’s very important. Do you know any of his friends?’ The door opened and Detective Sergeant Pat Campbell popped her head into the room. She looked haggard, having been on duty for more than twenty hours. She signalled for Dr McCartney to join her in the corridor. ‘Why didn’t that PC change out of his bloody uniform as I told him to?’ she asked before the DS could speak. ‘I don’t know. He should have done.’

The DS sighed and looked to the ceiling. ‘Has the boy said anything?’ ‘Not yet.’ ‘It is paramount we find his brother.’ ‘I heard that his mother was still alive. How is she?’ ‘I don’t know where you heard that from. Both parents were pronounced dead at the scene. They were hacked to death.’ ‘Jesus. Well he doesn’t need to know any of that. Not now at any rate.’ ‘We’ve managed to locate a relative in Newcastle. She’s coming straight down, but it’ll be a few hours before she gets here. Look, whatever happened in that house, he saw it, or at least heard it, and I need to know.’ ‘I’m aware of that.’ Pat Campbell looked over the doctor’s shoulder, through the narrow glass window in the door, and into the room at the young boy drawing as if nothing extraordinary had happened.

‘How does he seem?’ ‘He’s in a complete shutdown, which isn’t uncommon. When it comes to anything traumatic sometimes our brain takes time to come to terms with it and until it does, it shuts down. It’s a self-preservation thing.’ ‘So he’ll soon come out of… whatever this is, and be able to tell us what happened?’ ‘In theory, yes.’ ‘Why only in theory?’ ‘Depending on what he saw his brain may not want him to remember.’ ‘Bloody hell,’ Campbell said, leaning back against the wall for support. ‘What’s with the drawings?’ ‘It’s a way of helping young children come to terms with what they’ve witnessed. Whatever they draw is usually an indication of what’s going on in their heads. Hopefully it will help to understand what went on in that house, and then we can take our therapy from there.’ ‘And what’s he drawn so far?’ ‘He’s drawn his house with a tree next to it.’ ‘Does that tell you anything significant?’

‘Not yet,’ she half smiled. ‘It’s early days. He’s clearly looking at what happened from the outside. If his next drawing is also a house, I’ll ask him about the inside and see what he draws when I talk about the rooms in the house.’ Pat shook her head. ‘My God, the mind is a powerful thing isn’t it? I don’t envy your job.’ There was nothing the doctor could say to that. There were times she didn’t envy her job either. ‘Is there any chance of getting him in some of his own clothes? That sodding tracksuit stinks.’ ‘I’ll get something brought over from the house.’ ‘And how about a glass of milk and some chocolate?’ ‘Whatever you want.’ ‘Thank you.’ She turned and went back into the room. Jonathan had drawn two adults, a child, and was currently on a second child: his family. Dr McCartney bent down next to him and watched him draw in the details: the hair, the clothes, the eyes, the smiles. He then picked up a red felt-tip and with a forceful action that caused the doctor and PC to jump, he scribbled all over the picture. He didn’t stop until his mother, father, and brother were completely covered in blood.

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Now! If that opener doesn’t make you want to read For Reasons Unknown then I don’t know what will! Definitely one of my books of the year! 🙂

Thanks to Michael for letting me be a part of the blog tour (like I was giving him a choice 😂) and for being the first stop on what will no doubt be a fun blog tour! 😊

I’m thrilled to be the first stop on the blog tour for the new Patricia Cornwell book, Depraved Heart. This is the 23rd (can you believe that?!) instalment of the Scarpetta series. I’ve been a fan of Cornwell’s books for as long as I can remember, and I’ve read all of this series. Needless to say, I was delighted to be given the opportunity to take part in the blog tour. My thanks to Hayley Camis and Harper Collins for my review copy of Depraved Heart.

List of bloggers taking part and where to find them:

About the author:

Patricia Cornwell has sold over 100 million books and had 29 New York Times bestsellers, including Dust, The Bone Bed, Red Mist and Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper- Case Closed. Postmortem is the only novel to win five major crime awards in a single year and Cruel and Unusual won Britain’s prestigious Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel. Fox 2000 have bought the rights to Kay Scarpetta to be developed for the big screen. When not writing from her Boston home, she is tirelessly researching cutting edge forensics to include in her work. Currently researching drone technology as well as continuing her work in ballistics, explosives and firearms, Cornwell has also been learning about advanced trauma for the emergency responder through simulation technology, working with the Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T) department, training on the VirFa Firearms Training Simulators as well as Scuba Diving in Bermuda.

About the book:
Dr. Kay Scarpetta is working a suspicious death scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts when an emergency alert sounds on her phone. A video link lands in her text messages and seems to be from her computer genius niece Lucy. But how can it be? It’s clearly a surveillance film of Lucy taken almost twenty years ago.

As Scarpetta watches she begins to learn frightening secrets about her niece, whom she has loved and raised like a daughter. That film clip and then others sent soon after raise dangerous legal implications that increasingly isolate Scarpetta and leave her confused, worried, and not knowing where to turn. She doesn’t know whom she can tell – not her FBI husband Benton Wesley or her investigative partner Pete Marino. Not even Lucy.

My thoughts:

Following on from Flesh and Blood, Depraved Heart picks up two months after the events involving the Copperhead Killer. Dr. Kay Scarpetta is called to a suspicious death in Cambridge. A film mogul’s daughter is found dead in her home and Scarpetta and Marino attend the scene.

Within minutes of beginning her exam, Scarpetta receives a message on her phone from her niece Lucy’s ICE with a video link. The accompanying footage makes her question those around her and who to trust.

Simultaneously, Lucy’s home is being raided by the FBI. With worry setting in, Scarpetta rushes through her examination of the scene in order to go over to Lucy’s house, not knowing about the raid.

This book essentially takes place over the course of one day. It is full of forensic detail, the kind you usually expect from Cornwell. At times, it’s difficult to take in all that gets written, but it’s good to know the reasoning behind the forensic processes.

I really enjoyed Depraved Heart. More so than Flesh and Blood. It’s full of psychological warfare as the characters don’t know who to trust, and an old nemesis resurfaces, testing everyone. There are some unexpected twists and turns along the way which make for interesting asides.

My only issue with Depraved Heart was that once you get to the climax of the story, it ends very quickly. I would have liked a little more explanation of certain events, but that’s personal preference.

I gave Depraved Heart 4⭐️ on Goodreads. It was a highly enjoyable story and I’m very grateful to Harper Collins for my copy!